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5/8/12

Intern Update - 5/7/12 (Anastasios Kamoutsas)

Anastasios Kamoutsas, 3L

The A21 Campaign

Human Trafficking

Greece

On my first day of work, I read the entire Trafficking-In-Persons
(TIP) report submitted for the past two years by the A21 Campaign, and familiarized myself with the
human trafficking situation in Greece. I then brainstormed on what the
government’s weaknesses were and thought of ideas that may help it to be more
effective in complying with the standards of the Victims of Trafficking and
Violence Protection Act.

Later that day, my boss asked me to go to Turkey with him, and I
was completely shocked. Yet without hesitation, I quickly responded, “I would
love to!” I hastily packed my bags and embarked on the charming six-hour drive
through the winding Everest Mountains that overlooked the humble white abodes
along the coast. When we arrived in Istanbul, we were greeted by massive
mosques every other mile. I had never seen anything like it before.

Our tour guide was a female pastor who started a church in the
city center. The more I heard her testimony, the deeper my admiration for her
grew. She had been on the mission field for twenty-five years, and had left Kazakhstan,
where she was for thirteen years, to plant a church in the heart of Istanbul. After
spending a day touring Istanbul with this woman and hearing how God is moving
in Istanbul, I went with my boss to a couple of meetings while we were in
Istanbul.

The purpose of these meetings was to conduct research and gain a
better understanding of what the sex trafficking industry was like in Istanbul.
Some of the organizations we met with were the International Organization of
Migration and one of the only NGOs geared towards sex and human trafficking in
Istanbul. Another purpose of our visit was to understand how the influx of
immigrants illegally migrating into Greece, approximately 800,000 per year,
affected the sex trafficking industry. Hearing the perspectives of these
different organizations was definitely useful research and valuable to the A21 Campaign’s mission of combating
human trafficking.

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